Fun in New York City last week, a new blog post, and more.

This past week I was in New York City (again – my monthly trip), trying, as always, to couple business with pleasure. Apart from coming into SA office for work and meetings, I also got to attend a couple of nifty events.

On Tuesday evening, I finally got to meet Mary Roach in person. I learned on Twitter she was going to be in town and doing a reading from her latest book ‘Packing For Mars’, but I thought (and tweeted) it was too late as I already had other things planned. Well, she tweeted right back at me and politely suggested I better show up or else….so I changed my plans and showed up and it was great fun – she is such an amazing person and a great public speaker (there is a video of her in this post in which I review her previous book ‘Bonk’).

And of course, the topic is fascinating – how do astronauts and cosmonauts deal with various aspects of life we take for granted here on solid ground and gravity: how they eat, sleep, go to bathroom, take care of hygiene, take care of mental hygiene, and more.

On Wednesday night I went to see The Story Collider, a science-themed storytelling show (sorta like Moth in NYC or The Monti here in the Triangle). This time, the topic was the intersection of science and art – The Cambrian Explosion, an art exhibit and storytelling performance with six wonderful personal stories by artist who draw inspiration from science and nature and math. It was also wonderful to see some of their art in the gallery right after the show to connect what they said to what they do as artists.

But the biggest deal of the week was on Wednesday morning, when I went along with Katherine Harmon and Eric Olson to the American Museum of Natural History for the press preview of the ‘Giant Dino’ exhibit. You can see their video embedded into the article: New exhibit reconstructs the very biggest dinosaurs–inside and out. And you can read my take on it (with lots of pictures) in: Giant Dino exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, or, why I should not be a photojournalist.

It was also great to be able to meet a bunch of people – despite not having an organized #NYCscitweetup – during these two days at various times: Lena Groeger, Steve Silberman, Nancy Parmalee, Ivan Oransky, Robin Lloyd, Steve Mirsky, Cassie Rodenberg and Hannah Waters among others.

Next week – DCSWA Professional Development Day 2011 on Saturday in Washington D.C. – come by if you can.